implements the protocol can be a client; some common
ones are Cisco NSO and the ncclient Python library.
Figure 12-2 shows the NETCONF architecture stack and
the relationship with YANG.
Figure 12-2 NETCONF
The main purpose of NETCONF is to transport data
payloads between client and server. The data payloads
can be configuration data, operational and status data,
and notifications. NETCONF supports notifications,
which are similar to SNMP traps.
Messages sent with NETCONF use remote procedure
calls (RPCs), a standard framework for clients to send a
request to a server to perform an action and return the
results. The client or the manager application sends its
XML-formatted message to the server, nesting the
request within an
returns results within an
As previously mentioned, the first version of NETCONF
was defined in 2006, but YANG was not defined until
- So what was used as a payload with the first
version of NETCONF? Configuration payloads in those
days defaulted to CLI commands. This was an advantage